Traffic Tie Ups

A sold-out conference featuring multimillionaire Donald Trump, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and motivational speaker Anthony Robbins drew a crowd of more than 16,000 people to the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim on Tuesday, causing traffic headaches for morning and afternoon commuters. Morning traffic on the Orange Freeway was stalled for miles in both directions because of the crowds, and the California Highway Patrol issued a traffic advisory, Highway Patrol Officer Michelle DiMaggio said.

About 450 local officials and transportation experts gathered in Long Beach on Monday to discuss some of the region's biggest challenges: how to deal with traffic congestion, a lack of funding and the "tsunami of freight" coming through the region's ports in the years ahead.

I use the 10 Freeway (San Bernardino) each day to and from work. In the afternoon the majority of the traffic tie-ups are caused by illegal users of the car-pool lanes being ticketed by the California Highway Patrol, causing the curious public to slow to see what is happening. I realize the CHP has an obligation to enforce the law, but the sudden slowdowns and stopping causes many unnecessary hazards. These actions are so predictable that whenever the freeway stops in the five-mile section between Eastern Avenue and New Avenue, I generally know why. The CHP cannot control human curiousity, but its actions are causing a real danger to a much larger percentage of the freeway users.

The one thing you can't cheat in life is time, and one of the biggest thieves of our time in Southern California is the freeway system. The average commuter here loses 93 hours in traffic delays each year -- the worst in the nation by a huge margin -- and estimated average speeds on freeways have dropped to about 35 miles per hour, according to a recent report by the Texas Transportation Institute.

A series of articles recently appeared in local newspapers regarding the impending traffic gridlock we can all expect in the near future in South Bay. The articles prompted me to reflect, and I realized that the warning signals being given to the public were not being adequately balanced with creative solutions. As a public official, I understand that we cannot afford to be lackadaisical, for if we continue with business as usual, all of our communities will be choked with traffic. Let us consider . . . the situation at hand.

Residents should brace themselves for traffic tie-ups during the next few months, as nearly every major road in the city is slated to undergo extensive repairs. Six main thoroughfares have been singled out for about $9 million in rehabilitation during the construction, which begins next month with projects on Adams Avenue, Victoria Street and Newport Boulevard.

Traffic tie-ups on the San Diego Freeway and major streets linking the Los Angeles Basin with the San Fernando Valley were lighter than expected Monday when the Sepulveda Boulevard tunnel was closed to begin a scheduled six-week construction project.

The one thing you can't cheat in life is time, and one of the biggest thieves of our time in Southern California is the freeway system. The average commuter here loses 93 hours in traffic delays each year -- the worst in the nation by a huge margin -- and estimated average speeds on freeways have dropped to about 35 miles per hour, according to a recent report by the Texas Transportation Institute.

Traffic tie-ups at 21 major crossing points along the U.S.-Mexico border continued into the second weekend as customs officials searched cars in hopes of finding clues to the Feb. 7 disappearance of an American narcotics agent. The searches were ordered last weekend after drug agent Enrique Camarena disappeared in Guadalajara. Camarena is believed to have been kidnaped by drug dealers. The inspections began without warning, causing massive traffic tie-ups along the border.

Wouldn't it be prudent to open the diamond lane when an accident occurs? Major accidents cause severe traffic tie-ups. When there is a diamond lane at the site, why not open it to single-passenger vehicles to lessen the congestion? ALEX TONG Bermuda Dunes

Billions of dollars worth of road projects planned for the exploding Inland Empire will do little to ease Southern California's mounting traffic woes, especially its monstrous commutes, new traffic analyses show. Delays for San Bernardino County drivers are projected to double by 2030. Riverside County drivers can expect daily delays to quadruple.

Construction is moving forward on a $112-million project to eliminate what has become one of the worst bottlenecks north of Los Angeles: the Oxnard Boulevard and Ventura Freeway interchange in Ventura County. But work on the four-year project that includes widening of the adjoining Santa Clara River bridge cannot move fast enough. Even without the usual accidents or stalled vehicles, traffic along this two-mile stretch of freeway often moves at a crawl. And it is likely to get worse.

In an effort to unsnarl traffic tie-ups, Caltrans is building a flyover bridge at the junction of the San Diego and Corona del Mar freeways and improving onramps and offramps at Harbor Boulevard and Fairview Road. The $54-million project is scheduled for completion in mid-2004.

Gov. Gray Davis is expected this week to unveil a state transportation funding package of about $5 billion to help combat the worsening traffic congestion that has led to nightmarish commutes in many urban areas, according to sources in Sacramento.

A sold-out conference featuring multimillionaire Donald Trump, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and motivational speaker Anthony Robbins drew a crowd of more than 16,000 people to the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim on Tuesday, causing traffic headaches for morning and afternoon commuters. Morning traffic on the Orange Freeway was stalled for miles in both directions because of the crowds, and the California Highway Patrol issued a traffic advisory, Highway Patrol Officer Michelle DiMaggio said.

Wouldn't it be prudent to open the diamond lane when an accident occurs? Major accidents cause severe traffic tie-ups. When there is a diamond lane at the site, why not open it to single-passenger vehicles to lessen the congestion? ALEX TONG Bermuda Dunes

In an effort to unsnarl traffic tie-ups, Caltrans is building a flyover bridge at the junction of the San Diego and Corona del Mar freeways and improving onramps and offramps at Harbor Boulevard and Fairview Road. The $54-million project is scheduled for completion in mid-2004.

Let's get out the news! In our fair and famous San Fernando Valley, home of glamour and good weather, our friendly MTA service gets us from Victory and Van Nuys boulevards to the post office at Haskell [Avenue] and Sherman Way, so that we can quickly drop off our letters, wait for the buses and return to Victory and Van Nuys in only two hours. That's with no breakdowns, traffic tie-ups or other unforeseen events. Come, come to our fair and famous San Fernando Valley, use our public transportation system, where some drivers don't know the stops on their route.

Gary Gray's last day as a lifeguard at San Buenaventura State Beach couldn't have been less eventful. There was no going-away party, no big rescue and almost more gulls on the beach than people--hardly the season's traditional last hurrah. "This is like our slowest weekend so far of the whole summer," Gray said. Then the burn-off began. The sun finally appeared after a dreary weekend that dampened many Labor Day plans.

The explosions and sirens planned in Newport Harbor this morning may sound like a disaster, but the only real problem will be the traffic jam that results from the emergency drill, a Newport Beach fire spokesman said. The mock mishap on a tugboat in the harbor's turning basin will include 12 "victims" in the water, another 108 on board and three jarring explosions at 8:55 a.m. "They will be rather large, for sure," Newport Fire & Marine Department Lt. John Blauer said.